On Leadership and the V-Formation

During our retreat, Sojun Roshi told us about how his dog, Chulo, enjoyed herding some goats in TildenPark. This started me on a train of thought about leadership. I thought, right; I don’t want to herd anyone, and I don’t want to be herded. In herding, the goats are always the goats and the dogs are always the dogs. The goats don’t know anything, and some are even stupider than others, so they need to be herded. The dogs always know more about what’s supposed to be happening than the goats.

What I love is to fly with my dharma friends in a V-formation. The main thing that’s happening is, we are flying together in the right direction. We have a sense of where we’re headed, yet we choose a strong flyer with a good sense of direction to be the point bird. In this form we can all support each other. One of us takes the lead, in our case, usually Sojun Roshi. But we are not following Sojun to get to where he is. We’re following him because we’re all going “north.” In our V-formation he’s the front bird, but he’s also flying in a bigger formation, following other front birds. It’s a rare lecture of Sojun’s when he doesn’t mention Suzuki Roshi. That’s one way he lets us know what he’s following – “North this way! Let’s go!” He’s not just some random bird that we’re following wherever he happens to feel like going. And so we’re also watching him, to make sure he’s flying “north.”

And pretty regularly, Sojun takes a break and let’s someone else fly in front for a bit. As wildlife expert John Grassy, describes, “The leader drops back — usually all the way back, where wind drag is lowest — and a rested bird comes to the front. While there is no single, unchanging “leader” for a V of birds on the move, it is the oldest, experienced individuals who are calling the navigational shots, using the sun and the stars at night to orient themselves and stay on course.”
I like to fly on the edge, feeling the wind in my face, sheltering others. And I also like to fly in the middle, feeling the supporting updraft of those around me. Most of all I love to fly, feeling the conviction that we are headed in the direction of benefit for all beings.

It’s not unusual for someone to begin practice here and after a few months feel like they could be the teacher. That seems to be a very natural response – a moment when we realize “Hey! I know which way is north! Follow me!” Sometimes a person leaves soon after that feeling unacknowledged.

Understandable, but frankly, not even close. We need to see how you fly. We’re not going to let anybody in that front spot until we’ve watched them fly for a good while. How they fly when they are towards the back, how they fly when they are towards the front. How they fly in a personal crisis, how they fly in a community crisis. How they fly when it’s tedious and repetitive and there’s absolutely nothing to be gained. Those who are not able or willing to fly in the formation never take a turn as the front bird, or leave to start a new flock.

Whether the point bird wants to be the point bird or does not want to be the point bird is largely irrelevant. The real questions are, do they know which way is north? Can they stay strong on this trackless track? Do they know when to rest? It’s not like the point bird gets there ahead of the rest of the group.

Some of us fly in more than one formation, and some people don’t want to fly in any formation. A solitary bird winging across the blue is also beautiful. No one can tell us what formation to fly in. We get to pick that for ourselves, finding a flock that’s going in the direction we need to go.

About Laurie Senauke

Laurie Senauke started formal Zen practice in 1980 at San Francisco Zen Center; she worked at Greens restaurant back in the day, and lived at Tassajara for three years. In 1989 she married Hozan Alan Senauke, moved to Berkeley Zen Center, and has been raising her family there ever since her daughter Silvie was born in 1990. Her son Alex was born in 1994. After several years of intense focus on childrearing, she gradually returned to more involvement in formal practice. She served as head student (shuso) at BZC in 2003 and received lay recognition in 2006. She is also studying and practicing hypnotherapy (see www.interludeofease.com).

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About Laurie Senauke

Laurie Senauke started formal Zen practice in 1980 at San Francisco Zen Center; she worked at Greens restaurant back in the day, and lived at Tassajara for three years. In 1989 she married Hozan Alan Senauke, moved to Berkeley Zen Center, and has been raising her family there ever since her daughter Silvie was born in 1990. Her son Alex was born in 1994. After several years of intense focus on childrearing, she gradually returned to more involvement in formal practice. She served as head student (shuso) at BZC in 2003 and received lay recognition in 2006. She is also studying and practicing hypnotherapy (see www.interludeofease.com).

About Sweeping Zen

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